Los Angeles dancer, Brian Perez, was eating out with his friends one evening when suddenly everyone went quiet. To his horror, he saw that the reason for this was that people were checking their phones. Realising he had to do something to stop this, Brian made a rather daring suggestion. What if they all put their gadgets in a pile in the middle of the table until they had finished the meal? If anyone picked up their phone, that person would have to pay the whole bill. And so, it is said, the game of 'phone stacking' was born.

The necessity for action like this highlights a major problem in today's society: our inability to disconnect from technology. But while Brian's idea deals with the obsession in a social context, measures also need to be taken at home. Some people drop their smartphones into a box the moment they arrive home, which gives them the chance to interact with the people they live with. The fact that the phone cannot be heard - it is on silent - nor seen - the flashing lights are hidden by the box - means that they are no longer tempted to use it.

A less drastic solution is to ban electronic devices at certain times of day when the whole family is likely to be together, for example at meal times. This can be hard for everyone, from teenagers desperate to text friends to parents unable to switch off from work. On a normal day, however, dinner takes less than an hour, and the benefits of exchanging opinions and anecdotes with the rest of the family certainly makes up for the time spent offline.

Taking a break from technology is one thing, but knowing when to turn off a device is another. Time seems to stand still in the virtual world, and before you know it, you find that it is three o'clock in the morning. This is where a digital curfew comes in handy, a set time when all devices must be put away. Evenings without technology are usually nice and peaceful and make a more agreeable end to the day. And then it's time for bed. One of the best ways of ensuring you can sleep at night is to ban electronic devices altogether from the bedroom. Lying next to a machine bursting with information is far from relaxing, and the sounds it emits during the night can easily wake you up. With technology out of the room, a line has been drawn between daytime and sleep time, which enables us to switch off ourselves and drift off to sleep.

(Adapted from Solutions 3rd Edition by Tim Falla and Paul A Davies)